Stereoscopic



April 14, 11942. 1, A BOCH l STEREOSCOPIC FILM VIEWING APPARATUS l2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 17, 1941 Il will..

April 14, 1942. A, BQCH 2,279,967

STEREOSCOPIC FILM VIEWING APPARATUS Filed April 17,- 1941 q 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 BY l #MGS d. www? APatented .UNIT-EpI STATES PATENT oEi-i- CE I I s'rEitEosoorIc Fsifslvvmo Prana-'rus t t. I e

Alfred Boch, .Yorktown Heights, N. Y. Application Apru 11; V1941,'sermi No. 338,925

s owma (ci. s-zs) This invention relates to improvements inapparatus for viewing stereoscopic photographic illin record negatives of X-ray pictures, fluorograms and the like.v Such records are made upon photographic films and the 'pictures are takenby stereoscopic cameras. The viewing apparatus must; therefore include a stereoscopic optical system. The records are made upon standard 35 I mm. lm and each view or picture is about 37.5

mm. long upon the developed lm, theadditional length being due to expansion. Inasmuchas the views upon the film follow one upon the other in close succession without spacing it follows that the optical axes of the stereoscopic optical viewing system must be spaced about 37.5 mm. apart in the plane of' view. On the other' hand provisionmust be made for adjusting the oculars oi such system to suit the eyes of the observer with respect to pupillary distance.

The object of the invention is to provide a very about 37.5 mm. apart in the viewing plane. They` arepivoted so as to be adjustable to suit the eyes of the observer. As a modification the optical system may consist of a pair of image erecting therein.

Fig. 5 looking in the direction oi the arrow 6 Referring to Figs. l to 4 the apparatus comprises a hollow base I which supports an electric lamp 2 the light of which passes upwards through an opening 3 in the inclined top of `the base.

Upon the latter is mounted a film guiding and positioning unit 5 which isvmade in two parts, a lower fixed part 6 andan upper part 'I which is hinged to the lower part 6 asat 8. The latter also forms a lantern slide guide way 9. Both parts of the member 5 forms a film guide way Iii in the piane where the two parts meet as shown` in Fig. 3. The upper hinged part 'I is shaded in this ligure for the sake of distinguishing it from the lower part 6. Both'of the guide ways prism telescopes of the type used in binoculars.-

The axes in such systems are offset and perpendicular to the objective plane. The oiIset ocular optical axes of suchasystem are adjustable to suit the eyes of the observer. Other features of the invention will be pointed out hereinafter. In the' accompanying drawings illustrating the invention* Fig. l is an outline view of the apparatus with details omitted and showing the optical system in two different positions.

Fig. 2 is a view looking in the direction ofthe arrow 2 in Fig. 1 with parts in section and parts broken away.

Fig. 31s an end view of the apparatus looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig.' 2.

1 Fig. 4 is a plan view taken substantially on the line 4--IofFig".3. Y y y' Fig. 5 illustrates diagrammatically a modied optical' system mountedupon the base or the apparatus. i.

Fig. 6 is an outline, view. oi parts shownfin have superposed alined viewing openings II, II Fig. 4, the iilm being lighted from below as will beunderstood. The space marked I2 in Fig. 3

is of n significance, the guide ways merely be-l ing raised a suitable distance. It is a matter of construction.

Thehinged upper part 'I of the unit 5 carries two 4opposed brackets or supports I3 and I4. On i the outside of these supports there are secured guide vplates I5 and I6. Two tube supporting bridges I'I and iii are pivoted to the hinged part 1 at I9 and 2li, respectively, on opposite sides of the part I as shown in Fig. 4. The axes `of the pivots I9 and 23 are in the optical viewing plane of" the apparatus, i. e. in the'plane Voi! the iilm= 2i. Thev vertical arms 22 and 23 of the bridges I1 and I8- respectively are guided about their pivots between the outsides ofv the unit 5 and the insides of the plates I5 and IB, Fig. 4.

Each bridge I1 and I8 supports a tube 24 containing an optical magnifying system for example consisting of three lenses as indicated at 25. The lenses are chromatically corrected and of wide angles of view so the pictures maybe viewed very close. The eyes of the observer may be close or further away from the oculars of the lenses. The optical axes of the two magniers 24 are indicated by the lines 28, 26v and pass fthrough the pivots IS and 20 and through the centers of the two adjoining stereoscopic illmviews which are indicated at 21, 21 in Fig. 4.

In order to adjust the magniers to suit the eyes of the observer the two tubes 24 are linked together by links 30, 30 pivoted to the tubes and I to a disk 3l which in turn is rotatably mounted on the support I3. The pivot 32 of the disk extends to the outside and carries a hand wheel 33. By rotating this wheel the disk 3l is rotated and the two tubes correspondingly' and equally adjusted towards each other, the optical axes at all' times passing through the pivots I9 and 20 respectively. The magnifiers are focusable in a well known manner'not specially indicated.

When a nlm is to be examined it is inserted in A the film guide way I0 and moved in under the two viewing openings Il. The magnifiers may then be adjusted to suit. The views are seen stereoscopically. The operator may move the film through the guide with one hand to the correct position and turn the disk wheel 33 with the other hand for adjustment. The iilm is led out of the apparatus at one side and may then be engaged by a transporting roller 35 operable by a knob 36. This serves as a means also for accurately positioning the film beneath the magnifiers. Also the roller 35 may be operated to feed the film to a film winding up drum, not shown.

The film may be so short that it cannot conveniently be passed through the guide way from side to side of the apparatus. In order to place such a short lm in viewing position the entire upper part of the viewing unit is opened by being tilted backwards upon the pivot 8 as shown in Fig. 1 in dotted lines. This movement uncovers the bottom part of the film guide. The lm may then be placed in position sideways and the unit closed down. A lantern slide or a iiim between two glass plates may easily be inserted in the guide way 9 and pushed into view.

Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the same lapparatus but provided with a different optical system. In this case there is secured to the base I an upright bracket 40 like the upright in a microscope. A I

pair of image erecting telescope optical lens systems generally marked 4|, 4l is mounted upon a base plate'43. The lens casings are marked 42, 42. The plate 43 has a foot 44 adapted to t in and to be received by the bracket 40 as shown in Fig. 5 so as to be movable therein in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the film 2| The parts are arranged as in a microscope so that by means of suitable gearing, not shown, and a hand wheel 46, the base plate is moved whereby to focus the optical systems. The guiding means for the film are the same as shown in the preceding iigures. As seen in Fig. 6 the distance 48 between the objective axes 49, 49 of the optical system is about equal to the 37.5 mm. distance between the centers 21, 21 of the iilm pictures 50,

50. The distance 5I between the offset ocular axes 52 is adjusted to suit the eyes of the observer by rotating the casings 42, 42 about the axes 49 in the base plate as will be understood,

said casings being rotatably so mounted in the plate. 'Ihe views are seen stereoscopically.

The apparatus is small and very handy for examining the stereoscopic iilm pictures. The

views are seen stereoscopically and may be rapidly inspected. The apparatus is of special usefulness in modern health services where mass surveys are undertaken for diagnosis.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for stereoscopically viewing stereoscopic film negatives having adjoiningY edges, a base, -means on said base for placing thereupon said film negatives in position to be viewed, an optical system for stereoscopically viewing said film negatives comprising a pair of optical image forming elements. fixed means on said base for supporting said elements in viewing relation to said f llm negatives with the lower ends of the optical axes thereof passing through the centers of the adjoining film negatives, the upper ends of said optical axes being angularly adjustable with respect to said centers and means for adjusting the upper ends of said optical axes whereby to adjust said optical axes to suit the spacing of the eyes of an observer.

2. In an apparatus for stereoscopically viewing stereoscopic iilm negatives having adjoining edges, a base, means on said base for placing thereupon said lm'negatives in position to be viewed, an optical system for stereoscopically viewing said film negatives comprising a pair of optical image forming elements, pivot means for individually supporting each of said elements upon said base in angularly adjustable iilm viewing relation, said pivot means being located in the plane of the iilm to be viewed and in the planes of the optical axes of said elements respectively, movable adjusting means connecting said elements and a wheel for actuating said adjusting means whereby to adjust said elements about their said pivot means to suit the spacing of the eyes of an observer.

3. In an apparatus for stereoscopically viewing consecutive stereoscopic film negatives having contiguous edges, the consecutive central points of said negatives being in fixed spaced relation, a base, means on said base for placing thereupon said film negatives in position to be viewed, an optical system for stereoscopically viewing said film negatives comprising a pair oi' image erecting optical telescopes, each of which includes a lower fixed portion and an upper adjustable portion, the optical axis of each of said telescopes passing through the said portions in off-set relation thereto and means for supporting said telescopes in viewing relation to the said film negatives with the lower portions of their said optical axes respectively in fixed spaced relation passing through the centers of a pair of contiguous film negatives to be viewed.

ALFRED BOCH. 

